Farm Structure Survey 2026

What kind of survey is it?

The Farm Structure Survey gives an overview of the state of agriculture in Estonia. This information is required for developing agricultural policies. The survey provides statistics on agricultural holdings that are comparable across the European Union (EU).

Agriculture produces almost 100% of food, covers around 40% of the EU territory, and takes up about 30% of the EU budget. The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the only policy the implementation of which is almost entirely financed by EU funds – therefore, it must be based on detailed input data.

Farm structure surveys have been conducted in the EU since the 1960s: there is an agricultural census every ten years, and sample surveys are carried out in the intervening years. To ensure better comparability, the Member States have agreed on a common methodology, the variables to be collected, their definitions, and so on.

Who commissioned the survey?

The Farm Structure Survey is conducted pursuant to the Official Statistics Act, Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2024/2914 and (EU) 2020/405.

The Farm Structure Survey is co-funded by the European Commission.

Why are these data needed?

The Farm Structure Survey provides data needed for the formulation of agricultural, environmental and other national policies.

The survey provides public and research authorities, businesses and international organisations with comprehensive and accurate statistics on agriculture. This information is used to make decisions in the agricultural sector and to identify issues that require more attention and funding. Compared to other surveys, the Farm Structure Survey offers a more complete picture of agriculture by looking at all the main activities of agricultural holdings.

The data collected through the Farm Structure Surveys are also used by the European Union's Joint Research Centre (JRC) for policy development, research, modelling, and more.

How often is the survey conducted?

The Farm Structure Survey is carried out as a sample survey twice in the period between agricultural censuses. In this decade, there are Farm Structure Surveys in 2023 and 2026.

Where are the survey results published?

Statistics Estonia will publish the results of the Farm Structure Survey in 2027 in the statistical database.

How are the survey participants selected?

In the Farm Structure Survey, agricultural holdings (both legal and natural persons) are surveyed if they meet at least one of the following conditions:

• 5 hectares of utilised agricultural area (incl. arable land, permanent grassland, fruit and/or berry plantations, tree nurseries and kitchen gardens);
• 2 hectares of arable land;
• 0.5 hectares of potatoes;
• 0.5 hectares of outdoor vegetables or strawberries;
• 0.2 hectares of aromatic and medicinal plants and herbs, flowers and/or ornamental plants, area under seeds, outdoor tree nurseries;
• 0.3 hectares of fruit and berry plantations and/or other permanent outdoor crops;
• 0.1 hectares of outdoor grapevines;
• 100 square metres of greenhouses;
• 1.7 livestock units of animals (one livestock unit corresponds to one dairy cow, for example; other animals have lower coefficients, e.g. 0.8 for a non-dairy cow, 0.3 for a fattening pig, 0.007 for a broiler, etc.).

The Farm Structure Survey collects data on at least 98% of the utilised agricultural area (excl. kitchen gardens) and 98% of the livestock units in the country. Utilised agricultural land includes permanent grassland where only maintenance mowing is carried out but for which subsidies are received.

Statistics Estonia compiles the list of agricultural holdings for 2026 on the basis of registers (ARIB, organic farming register, etc.) and other information.

Holdings are stratified according to economic size and type of farming, and the sample is randomly selected. To ensure a representative selection, the largest entities and the most important entities by type of farming are universally included.

How are the data collected?

Statistics Estonia conducts the Farm Structure Survey in autumn 2026. The data are collected with a questionnaire that is partially prefilled with register data. Information on the agricultural holding is requested from the holder, the manager, or the holder's or manager's representative.

• The questionnaire can be completed online from 1 September to 23 September at a suitable time. 
• The questionnaire is available at https://uuringud.stat.ee. Once you have logged in, select “Farm Structure Survey” under personal surveys. You can log in using your ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID.
• If the data have not been submitted online by 23 September, an interviewer from Statistics Estonia will contact the manager or the holder by phone between 24 September and 30 November. For quality purposes, the call will be recorded, subject to the respondent's consent.

What is asked in the Farm Structure Survey?

The Farm Structure Survey 2026 includes questions about the management and labour force of the agricultural holding, land use, number of livestock, other gainful activities, animal housing and manure management.

Where possible, the questionnaire is prefilled with data on land and livestock registered with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB), information from the land cadastre of the Land and Spatial Development Board, labour force data from the employment register, and animal housing data from the Environment Agency. The prefilled data can be revised by respondents, if necessary.

What is asked?

• Information about the management of the holding
• Who is the manager of the holding; information about the manager, incl. length of time as manager, age, sex, working hours in the holding (e.g. 25–50% of full-time working hours, etc.), agricultural qualifications and participation in vocational training.
• Data on land use
• Land tenure by type, utilised agricultural area by type of ownership and agricultural crops, irrigation.
• Number of livestock, poultry, and beehives; data on animal housing
• Average number of animals according to housing; grazing period.
• Information about labour force and other gainful activities of the holding
• Working hours of the holder, his/her family members and permanent, temporary or other employees; other gainful activities related to the holding, other gainful activities of the holding’s labour force outside the holding.
• Data on manure management

Use of manure on agricultural area by application method; manure storage by type.

Is participation in the Farm Structure Survey compulsory?

Pursuant to the Official Statistics Act, responding to the Farm Structure Survey is compulsory for holdings who own or manage agricultural land or agricultural livestock. The data of the Farm Structure Survey serve as important input to agricultural and environmental policies – therefore, each holding’s response is very important.

How to make sure that it is a survey by Statistics Estonia?

The surveys conducted by Statistics Estonia are listed in the survey schedule on our website. Online questionnaires can be completed in Statistics Estonia's self-service environment.

Telephone interviews are conducted by specially trained interviewers. The call is made from Statistics Estonia’s call centre number (+372) 625 9110 or from the interviewer’s mobile phone. The names and phone numbers of Statistics Estonia's interviewers can be checked on the contacts page.

What happens to the collected data?

The Official Statistics Act stipulates strict requirements for the prevention of the accidental release of data. The data entered into the questionnaire are transmitted from the collection application to a section of Statistics Estonia’s data warehouse that has very restricted access. The data can be accessed only by employees who are directly responsible for this survey. They have been authorised to access the data in order to produce official statistics for publication in Statistics Estonia’s database. The data published this way are aggregates and do not allow the identification of specific individuals.

Researchers can apply for the right to access pseudonymised data in Statistics Estonia’s secure research work environment, in accordance with the Official Statistics Act. Each request is processed by Statistics Estonia’s Confidentiality Council who will decide whether the applicant’s request can be granted. For more information, see the section on using confidential data for scientific purposes. The pseudonymised data are also submitted to Eurostat who is under the same duty of confidentiality. 

A legal person or natural person registered in the Business Register may grant the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge permission to reuse the data collected by Statistics Estonia as input data for the Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN) survey. In that case, the data collected with the Farm Structure Survey can also be used by the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge. 

The data storage periods are stipulated in Statistics Estonia’s classification scheme which is available in the document register on Statistics Estonia’s website. Read more about the general data protection requirements in the data protection section.

Where can I get more information about the Farm Structure Survey?

If you have any questions regarding the survey or data submission, please contact Statistics Estonia's customer support by phone at +372 625 9300 or by email at klienditugi [at] stat.ee (klienditugi[at]stat[dot]ee).